Friday, October 06, 2006

Halloween Mix Part 6 - Early B Ain't 'Fraid Of No Ghost!

Unless you’ve been living on another planet, the logo you see above should be instantly recognizable and just as familiar as the Nike swoosh or the Volkswagen beetle. Okay I might be exaggerating a little…but when Ghostbusters hit theatres in the summer of ’84 this little guy was everywhere. Yes, I’m sure a lot of us remember the blockbuster comedy starring Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd and one multi-story tall Marshmallow Man and I’ll admit that I even went trick or treating as a Ghostbuster for Halloween that year. Unfortunately what really dated the movie and spoiled a lot of young viewers memories of the film was the God awful theme song performed by Ray Parker Jr (I wouldn’t say he wrote it because I vaguely remember something about him getting sued for stealing the melody from Huey Lewis but this isn’t the forum for discussing that)… I’ll even admit I had the 45 but hey, I was only 13. Now the very prospect of ever having to hear that annoying call and response, "Who You Gonna Call? Ghostbusters!" turns my stomach. If only Ivan Reitman had recruited DJ Doctor Earlando "Early B" Neil to perform the title song for the movie it might still be bearable today. Besides, the tale Early B weaves in this song is far superior than Parker’s, "An invisible man sleeping in your bed. Ow! Who you gonna call." With only a couple haunted house effects added I offer the sixth chapter.